This week, former Fighting Sioux defenseman Andrew MacWilliam was recalled by the Toronto Maple Leafs. While I was reading another article on the Maple Leafs site, I came across a couple of gems. I found a few of the comments from a Toronto Maples Leafs fan who is unhappy about the Leafs drafting college hockey prospects.
Normally, I usually don’t give comments like this much time, but these are downright comical if not silly. Talk about your classic ill-informed, anti-college hockey fan.
Let me be clear, NCAA and the CHL are great paths to the NHL. So, this isn’t another CHL vs. the NCAA. (Read the article here.)
Jayce Edwards · Top Commenter · Works at IBEW 894
Right, so all the college players drafted are full of grit. Here are five names that played junior and see how they impacted the game, Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman, Messier, Probert. I will take my five any day, although St. Louis stands out.
And how many of that type of player you listed were drafted by the Leafs? And lastly, it won’t matter who the Leafs pick, the organization, and development will be a complete negative for the player.
If I had to make a guess, I would say that this individual has never watched a college hockey game. I would bet that he’s also a big fan of Don Cherry. I like Cherry too, but his archaic way of thinking is laughable.
It’s obvious, that he’s not all that informed about the college hockey game. I would love to see him tell Matt Greene that he doesn’t have grit. Or that he can’t fight. I wonder if he knows that Danny Dekeyser went straight from Western Michigan to playing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Jayce Edwards · Top Commenter · Works at IBEW 894
I agree. Scholarships are great incentives, but the number of games and opportunities to improve and showcase talent is not as great as in junior. Anyone can write down a number of college players drafted, but of those drafted and played professional, very few have impacted the game the same way as the players who were drafted out of junior. I know the game is changing, as well as the culture with the likes of Branch and Bettman and it is too bad that such a great game and sport is being destroyed. At least Ballard’s teams had heart and would sometimes get into the play-offs!
So, this guy is basically blaming the Maple Leafs recent failures on drafting college hockey players. This kind of logic is comical. First the Montreal Canadiens leading scorer Max Pacioretty is an American that played at the University of Michigan. He’d probably have developed better if he had gone the Major Junior route, right? Last season, the Canadiens actually had a team captain from the USA. Remember Brian Gionta? I do. Gionta was diminutive forward, but he definitely had grit.
I guess this guy is not familiar with David Backes as well? I am sure he would have developed much better in the CHL? I am sure team Canada would disagree with him.
As The Common Room notes in a great post-Wednesday, all three have been against high-ranking officers in the Team Canada hockey army. He pummeled Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks; he spanked Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks; and Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, he attempted to inflict some damage on Canadian star Rick Nash(notes), though he fell short in the fight. (Puck Daddy)
Humor aside, the NHL game is changing. No longer is fighting and running around the ice pummeling people a premium. The focus has shifted to skating and playing smart with the puck. Hockey is still physical, but the goons are being removed from the game of hockey. The goons are being replaced with players that are tough and can play roles and chew up minutes.
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